More pictures of the luminaries

I took some more pictures of the luminaries in the workshop in Mount Carroll the past weekend:

As you can see, each one will be about six feet high. All I have to do now is to transfer the images to the plexiglass panels, before final assembly a week before the unveiling on October 30th. To that end, I experimented with using Lazertran on small pieces of plexiglass. Lazertran comes in sheets that you can run through an inkjet printer, thus printing out any image that you've stored on your laptop. You soak the Lazertran in warm water for about 30 seconds, and then the image is released from the backing paper, enabling you to slide it off onto the plexiglass (or any other surface). The gum on the back of the image is enough to adhere it to the plexiglass surface. It's basically a high-quality decal.

To test the bond and to subject it to temperature similar to how it'll be outdoors in northern Illinois in November, I left a couple of pieces of plexiglass with Lazertran-sfers on them in the freezer overnight:

The result of my little science experiment was that the images seemed to stay on the panels nicely. I propped them, still foggy from the icy freezer, against the kitchen window:

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Restoring my Printing Press

I've just finished restoring and assembling my large etching press -- a six week process involving lots of rust removal, scrubbing with steel wool, and repainting. Here is a photo of the same kind of press from the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative: And here is a short YouTube video of me testing the press, making sure the motor still works after nearly seven years of lying in storage:

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Brancusi in Plastic

Artist Mary Ellen Croteau is showing these columns made from recycled plastic cartons and lids in the window of the Columbia College bookstore on Michigan Avenue. They are a playful homage to Brancusi's "Endless Columns", with a serious environmental message for our times: Image copyright Inhabitat.com and Mary Ellen Croteau Mary Ellen also runs a wonderful experimental art gallery in a window space in west Chicago, called Art on Armitage . I will be exhibiting a mixed media piece there during August 2012.

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How to etch a linoleum block

Linoleum as a material for printmaking has been used for nearly a hundred years now. Normally, you cut an image out using special gouges similar to woodcut tools, cutting away the lino around the image you want to print. This is called relief printmaking, because if you look at the block from the side, the material that remains stands up in relief from the backing material. You then roll ink with a brayer over the surface of the block, place paper over it, and either print by hand or run it through a press. You can do complex things this way (for example, reduction linocuts), but the beauty of the process is that it is quick, simple, and direct. Incised lino block, from me.redith.com Etched lino block, from Steve Edwards A few years ago, I saw some prints that were classified as coming from etched linoleum blocks, and I loved the textures I saw in them. In the last few months, I've been trying to use this technique in my own studio, learning about it as one does these d

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